A female Christian charity worker died after being fatally stabbed in the neck as she returned home from a shopping trip on May 1, London’s Old Bailey court heard on Tuesday.
Mohamed Nur, 33, was charged on Friday for the murder of 31-year-old Johanita Kossiwa Dogbey and for three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after allegedly attacking a man and two other women in separate incidents just two days prior to the murder.
On Tuesday, the London court heard how Nur, dressed in dark clothing, had approached Ms. Dogbey from behind as she walked alone on Stockwell Park Walk in Brixton, South London, on the May Day bank holiday.
She had been returning home after buying a birthday gift for her mother in the city center.
Using a makeshift blade, Nur allegedly stabbed his victim in the neck, causing her to bleed out and die at the scene of her injuries.
Prosecutor Julian Evans told the court it was a “completely unprovoked attack” on Ms. Dogbey, insisting “there is no suggestion she and the defendant were known to one another.”
The court heard how Nur had also allegedly attacked three other victims late on the evening of April 29, just two days before Ms. Dogbey’s murder. Again, without provocation or warning, two women and a man were attacked by a man with a bladed article in Brixton, all of whom sustained facial injuries.
The suspect was arrested by police on Brixton High Street and was found to be in possession of a makeshift weapon fashioned from a piece of broken mirror. He was subsequently charged with the aforementioned offenses on Friday.
At the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Nur spoke only to confirm his identity. The court heard how he had been living in a hostel in Vauxhall, a neighboring South London district.
The presiding judge, Mark Lucraft KC, scheduled a plea hearing for June and set a trial date for Nur to commence on April 29, 2024.
“We are devastated by the news of the passing of our daughter,” Ms. Dogbey’s family wrote in a statement released by police on Thursday.
“Johanita was a smart, dedicated, and loving girl who always helped anyone. She hasn’t got one bad bone in her body.
“She wouldn’t hurt a fly. We can’t believe a senseless crime like this has happened as we can’t imagine who would do this to her,” the statement added.